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Nigeria: Women Oppose Bill On Dress Code
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Daily Champion (Lagos)
10 July 2008
Posted to the web 10 July 2008
Comas Ekpunobi
Abuja
Pro women coalition groups yesterday protested against a bill before the senate to prohibit and punish nudity and sexual intimidation in the country.
The women protesters almost marred the senate public hearing on the bill, as they said, that the passage of the bill into law would expose Nigerian women to more abuse by security agencies.
Besides, they argued that , if the controversial bill sails through , it would amount to the breaking of their fundamental human rights.
Leading the women protest was the President of the National Council of Women Societies (NWCS)l Hajia Romatu Usman, who said that the bill constituted a danger to womanhood in Nigeria.
The bill instead of protecting the women is rather exposing them to more abuses by the law enforcement agencies i.e the police who will take advantage of this bill, when passed to harass and rape supposed culprit," she warned.
Similarly, the Alliance for Africa, another group opposed to the bill, described the proposed law as a deliberate plot to criminalize and penalize people who do not comply with the dress code.
Executive Director of the Alliance, Mrs. Iheoma Obibi, in her presentation at the tension-soaked forum declares "the bill by its nature is contradictory and evasive."
Chairman of the committee senator Ufot Ekaette who was apparently overwhelmed by the stiff opposition that tailed the proposed promised that her committee would capture the feelings of the public in its final report on the bill to the senate.
Mark said "I want to start by saying that in my opinion, nothing stops you from airing your views because I also have an opinion. In my very candid opinion, we must go back to the constitution in what ever we do.
" We must establish why it is that a man can dress in pants and walk all over the place but a woman cannot dress in the same manner and walk all over the place. I think legally minded will whether it is discriminatory of not."
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The public hearing was organized by Senate Committee on Women Affairs in pursuant to a recent decision of the upper legislative chamber to generate public inputs into the proposed law.
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